Implications for practice and research

Intravenous ketamine has been shown to be useful for acute pain in a variety of settings.1

The present study shows that it provides a greater reduction in pain than morphine but causes more adverse effects in out-of-hospital
care.

Context

Conscious trauma patients often suffer severe pain. In general, once a head injury has been ruled out, it is safe to give
analgesics as promptly as possible.2 Analgesics are often given in the initial out-of-hospital setting, but are often not as effective as they might be. Thus,
it is important to …